Dystopian Elements in the Brave New World

ProcrastinatingProse
English IV
August 26, 2013
Summer Reading: “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
Directions: Write a ½ page response to the following questions.
1. Many plays and novels use contrasting places (for example, two countries, two cities or towns, two houses, or the land and sea) to represent opposed forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. From Brave New World, contrast the setting in England to the Savage Reservation in New Mexico. Explain how the settings differ, what each represents, and how their contrast contributes to the meaning of the work.
In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley widely contrasts the settings of England and the Savage Reservation by use of imagery, personification, as well as mood. On the Savage Reservation, humans were living in a very tribal-native-american culture and followed basic human interaction similar to that of actual families with parents and children. The Savage Reservation represents the backwards and “ancient” human customs that the World State left behind. The Savage Reservation is seen as a typical Indian Reservation, and is treated as such. The citizens of the World State see the Reservation as a sort of “safari” and prefer not to associate with the “savages” for too long. Where the Savage Reservation was brutal and uncivilized, England was futuristic and uniform. The World State’s presence in England was undeniably strong, especially when seeing the London Hatchery—where hundreds upon hundreds of “children” were genetically engineered and conditioned to suit the government. The contrast between the Reservation and England reflects back on the remnants of “what was” and “what is”. The Reservation became a backwards place and was frowned upon for its “birth” instead of “engineered” life-style. The contrast contributes to the meaning of Brave New World by proving that while humans have made great advancements in technology, it can be no replacement for familial and interpersonal relationships.
2. From Brave New World, select a character that experiences a rift and becomes cut off from “home,” whether that home is the character’s birthplace, family, homeland, or other special place. Then analyze how the character’s experience with exile is both alienating and enriching.
As an outcast within both the Savage Reservation and the World State, John would seem as a character that bore no connection to anything or anyone at all. However, John possessed a connection to his mother, albeit strained, and this connection kept him sane. When Linda died, he lost that connection and was cut off from the one person he felt that he still had an attachment to. There is an enormous rift within John afterwards, one in which he attempts to close by speaking to the citizens of the World State and trying to convince them to join him and his mindset—which was heavily influenced by Shakespearean works. He was then exiled from the World State but was tormented by the citizens’ continued hounding and finally committed suicide—a tragic ending much like that of Shakespeare’s work.

Haily Hernandez
152576
English IV
August 26, 2013
Summer Reading: “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
Directions: Write a one-page essay explaining the dystopian elements in Brave New World. It is difficult to comprehend the possibility of a world of ideal perfection where there is no room or acceptance of individuality. Soviet Russia once experience such a “utopian” society, but was widely unaccepted and deemed “dystopian” by lack of regard for human emotion and the deprivation of individuality. Yet, as we strive towards the growth of technology and improvement of our daily living we ever so swiftly approach the end of the line between the unalienable rights of humanity and the devastation of a dystopia. Utopian societies do not have the means of providing true utopianism and are usually complete failures either to the ruling body or the people—this is seen in Aldous Huxley's provocative novel Brave New World.
Dystopia is drawn on by political and emotional events such as war, widespread plague, and death—anchoring its vision of a nightmarish future within the contemporary fears of a totalitarian world and uncontrolled advances in technology and science. As a preventative means of falling into such disarray and chaos—a society is born where one governing body controls all in prevention of such a situation reoccurring, but ironically this precedence and monument to human arrogance twists the arm of the so-called-people in the same manner as plague and war.
The dystopian setting is brought about by the rapid advances in technology and by a building paranoia to prevent a reoccurring disaster. As technology increases, the use for humans of a higher mental capacity decreases, creating the need for “human cattle” to operate and perform the most mundane of tasks.
Therefore, to continue this type of society, humans are taught through a hypnotic form of sleep-teaching to accept that their unhappiness is normal and to treat it with nothing other than “soma” (an anti-depressant). By "breeding" human beings to accept the fact that they are born to complete specific tasks and possess certain qualities based on industrial and economic need suggests that these humans are pre-destined to a life not of their own choosing and are conditioned to be “happy” with their place in society. The governing body possesses the knowledge that the elimination of human ambition and desire is useful in stabilizing control and supreme authority over the people. Huxley portrays a "perfect dystopia" where scientists "breed people to order,” resulting creating a specific class in an unorthodox caste system based on genetic disposition rather than upbringing or race.